European lawmakers will debate on aviation safety following the March Germanwings jet crash, a European parliamentary committee will vote on procedures regarding the Parliament’s recommendations for the U.S.-EU free trade negotiations while Luxembourg will formally take over the rotating presidency of the European Union. Read More »

Stark divisions remain between Greece and its international creditors over measures the government in Athens needs to implement before receiving desperately-needed bailout aid, according to a document seen by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Read More »

Brussels has grown wearily accustomed to last-ditch Greek talks over the past five years but there is a growing sense that this week might really be the last-chance saloon.

Greece owes €1.6 billion to the International Monetary Fund by the end of June and risks a debt default and capital controls unless it can reach a deal with its international creditors to unlock further aid. But Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government has consistently rejected key demands of the creditors, including further cuts to pensions.

Eurozone ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday after failing to reach a deal in Luxembourg last week, to prepare the ground for a meeting of their leaders later in the day. Leaders from the wider EU will gather later in the week for a regular meeting that could be the final chance to strike a deal.

Besides Greece, the region’s escalating migration crisis is high on the agenda this week, and will be discussed separately by foreign ministers and leaders. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will also seize the opportunity of the summit to outline his proposals for a reform of the EU, after his party’s unexpected triumph in national elections in May put a U.K. referendum on its membership of the bloc firmly on the agenda.

Elsewhere, the European Parliament will hold its plenary session in Brussels and will vote on the bloc’s €315 billion investment fund and on Wednesday and Thursday, defense ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meet in Brussels.

Greece’s pension system has become the main obstacle to a deal with its creditors. The leftist government in Athens is flatly refusing to cut pensions more. The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund say pensions for poorer Greeks should be protected, but they argue Greece can’t afford its overall system.

Without a compromise on pensions, there’s no deal, no money for Greece, default, capital controls, and return of the drachma.

With little sign of progress in talks on Greece’s international bailout, some European policy makers are considering whether Athens could default but stay in the eurozone. Here is a look at some of the complications. Read More »

Yet another “make-or-break” meeting on Greece for the European Union this week, provided the Brussels talks set to take place after the publication of this blog do not yield any substantial result. Early in the week, one of the main actors in the Greek saga — European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi — takes the stage in the European Parliament.

We will also hear from the EU’s top court in Luxembourg over whether Mr. Draghi’s “big bazooka” policy of 2012 — widely seen as having turned the tide on the eurozone crisis — was legal or not.

Still in Luxembourg, where ministers hold their monthly meetings twice a year, justice and home affairs ministers are expected to move forward on an EU data-protection law which has been in negotiations for more than three years. And on migration, the quarrel continues about how to distribute refugees more evenly among EU countries.

If Greece wants to avoid defaulting on its debts, a deal has to be found within days. But back-of-the-envelope calculations by Real Time Brussels show that the Athens government and its creditors may have until the winter to seal a third bailout deal for the country.

Here is how:

Greece’s decision last week to bundle this month’s payments to the International Monetary Fund means its first major redemption, €1.6 billion, is on June 30. That’s why we expect a “staff-level agreement” on budget cuts and overhauls between Athens and the institutions overseeing its bailoutby the June 18 Eurogroup at the latest. If both debtor and creditors want to avoid calling the German Bundestag back for an extra session, a deal could be preliminarily approved at a special Eurogroup this weekend. Read More »

Here’s our guide to some top events in Brussels and beyond affecting the European Union to look out for next week. The week starts off with a meeting in Berlin of the German and French leaders and the head of the European Commission, and ends in south Germany with a meeting of the Group of Seven. In the meantime, people in the financial markets will watch to see if Greece can make the first of four payments this month to the International Monetary Fund. Read More »

It’s been six months since European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker took office, with the promise of a “more political” EU executive. Big on the big things, small on the small. Cutting red tape. Reconnecting with the jaded public. And recasting the commission as a strong player in European politics, on par with governments in Berlin, Paris or London.

So how has the “political commission” done so far? From redistributing power among commissioners to picking the right (or wrong) battles, over the jump is a rundown of Mr. Juncker’s strategy up until now. Read More »

About Real Time Brussels

The Wall Street Journal’s Brussels blog is produced by the Brussels bureau of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. The bureau has been headed since 2009 by Stephen Fidler, who was previously a correspondent and editor for the Financial Times and Reuters. Also posting regularly: Matthew Dalton, Viktoria Dendrinou, Tom Fairless, Naftali Bendavid, Laurence Norman, Gabriele Steinhauser and Valentina Pop.